Ubuntu and French Police. Bring. It. On.
“*We will introduce Linux every time we have to replace a desktop computer,” he said, “so this year we expect to change 5,000-8,000 to Ubuntu and then 12,000-15,000 over the next four years so that every desktop uses the Linux operating system by 2013-2014.*”
[The world domination continues…](https://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iU4Lq7tOR_WVOJLZ3IeRaIH03x6w)
Death Metal Bert and Ernie
I always knew they were this metal…
via videosift.com
Quickies
Some quickies for you:
* I bought a Dell M1330. Unfortunately I put in the order a week before the Ubuntu availability was announced, so I did not get an Ubuntu pre-installed one. Not that it mattered, I never even booted Vista – Gutsy was on there quicker than you can say “*they drink it in the jungle*”. It is an *excellent* laptop – I went for the Intel graphics one to support the free drivers. Everything works out of the box, apart from Compiz – I had heard of some driver issues with the Intel card, and I am sure this will be fixed soon.
* I did an interview about Ubuntu for ComputerWorldUK. Go and [read it here](https://www.computerworlduk.com/toolbox/open-source/blogs/index.cfm?entryid=428&blogid=14).
* More and more speakers for LugRadio Live USA 2008 are confirming – I will announce them in another blog entry.
* Overkill are playing Bloodstock! This makes me happy – they are one of my fave bands, and I have only ever got a chance to watch them once over in the UK.
* In a week I head to [SCALE](https://www.socallinuxexpo.com/) and then to San Francisco. In between I will be doing a Google Tech Talk.
More soon…
LugRadio Live USA 2008 – The Trailer
[LugRadio Live USA 2008](https://lugradio.org/live/USA2008/) is coming…
Go to LugRadio Live USA 2008, 12-13 April, San Francisco! Watch this, then spread the word!
Can’t see the vid? Click [here](https://lugradio.org/live/USA2008/video).
Go [submit your papers too](https://lugradio.org/live/USA2008/callforpapers), potential speakers. 🙂
LugRadio Live USA 2008 Speakers and Call For Papers open!
Well, the three other large gents and I are beavering away on [LugRadio Live USA 2008](https://lugradio.org/live/USA2008/) which happens on the 12th and 13th April 2008 at The Metreon in San Francisco, and I have two exciting bits of information to report.
Firstly, we have our first set of confirmed speakers. They are:
* Jeremy Allison (*Samba / Google*)
* Ian Murdock (*OpenSolaris / Sun*)
* Robert Love (*Kernel / GNOME / Google*)
* Dan Kegel (*Wine*)
* Val Henson (*Kernel / Intel*)
* John Buckman (*Magnatune*)
* Ben Collins (*Ubuntu / Former Debian Project Leader*)
* Aza Raskin (*Mozilla / Humanized*)
Secondly, the Call For Papers is [NOW OPEN](https://lugradio.org/live/USA2008/callforpapers)!!
We are not just looking for out and out rock stars, but any talks that cover interesting subjects. See [this page](https://lugradio.org/live/USA2008/callforpapers) for more details, and get your submissions in by the **15th Feb 2008**!
For more details of the event see [this page](https://lugradio.org/live/USA2008/whatislrl) and the [main website](https://lugradio.org/live/USA2008/). Lets all make LugRadio Live USA 2008 kick arse and take names. 🙂
January Ubuntu Report
The latest [Ubuntu Teams Report is out](https://wiki.ubuntu.com/TeamReports/January2008)!
This months report is crammed full of updates on work done by people involved with the Community Council, IRC Team, Kubuntu, Mobile Team, MOTU, Server Team, Technical Board, Ubuntu Studio, US LoCo Teams Project, Ubuntu Women, Full Circle Magazine and the Installer.
If your team is not involved in the monthly reports, [go here](https://wiki.ubuntu.com/BuildingCommunity/TeamReporting) and take part. 🙂
Kick arse.
Damn, and more damn
Well, so much for *hey Jono, all you need to do is open up your laptop and check if the keyboard ribbon cable has unseated* – I did that tonight, in a fit of bravery, and now it won’t turn on again.
Guess I will need that new laptop after all. Dammit.
Moooving Pictures
As part of my album writing/recording, I am taking a video diary of the whole thing. I was originally planning on producing video diaries and putting them online regularly, but I don’t think I have the time – so I am videoing everything and I will produce a documentary for the DVD when it is done.
But we have a problem. Video editing is rubbish on Linux. We have been in this constant state of *nearly there* for a *long* time, and I just wish we were actually *there*. There are a number of options available to us:
* [Cinelerra](https://cinelerra.org/) – a very competent, albeit ugly, pro-level editing solution, but I find it (a) waaay too complex and (b) it never really works for me. It also requires something akin to the computer from Star Trek for it to run.
* [PiTiVi](https://www.pitivi.org/wiki/Main_Page) – my personal hope for a long time – GNOME/GTK based and using GStreamer, but Edward Hervey, who is a friend of mine has struggled to find the time to work on the project with his many other commitments. He is always looking for help, and it is an extremely worthy project, but still not there yet.
* [Kino](https://www.kinodv.org/) – too simple for what I want to do really, and I also find it pretty un-intuitive.
* [Open Movie Editor](https://openmovieeditor.sourceforge.net/) – another promising effort, but when I tested it, little worked for me.
Recently, we had an entry to the [Pimp My LugRadio](https://www.lugradio.org/pimpmylugradio/) competition (in which you can win a Asus EEEPC!) that was created in [Kdenlive](https://www.kdenlive.org). Aq had a fiddle with it and liked it, and mentioned it to me. I had a play with it, and it is looking pretty darn good.
My needs for video are pretty simple:
* Get video my camera onto my computer.
* Load it into a timeline.
* Chop it into bits and re-arrange them.
* Add background music.
* Add titles.
* A few simple effects – namely fades and black and white.
* Save the finished video as something that others can play, such as MPG and Ogg.
Kdenlive seems to have all of these features built in, and it uses an Adobe Peemiere-ish interface, which I like. From playing with it, it works pretty well, but its main enemy is stability – I think it needs some serious testing and bug-fixing.
It is currently being ported to KDE 4.0, and I look forward to seeing how that version works out. Once again, we are *nearly there*, but I hope we actually get there with it soon. I have *so much* video stuff I want to play with!
Laptop Advice Needed
I am looking to buy a laptop, and need some advice. Right now I am running a Sony Vaio VGN-TX1XP – a small form-factor laptop, that has served me pretty well. That was, until a few months back. An hour before I left for the airport to the UDS, the keyboard stopped working. This resulted in me buying a stupid external keyboard and carrying it round with me. You can see the size of the laptop and its ridiculous external keyboard here:
I quite like this smaller size of laptop, I can put it in my little Ubuntu over-the-shoulder bag. But, this keyboard is doing my head in, so I am thinking of alternatives.
So, this is what I absolutely want in a laptop:
* Small form-factor, sturdy.
* Dual core, good amount of RAM so I can run virtual machines fine.
* Very good battery life – I am happy to buy a fat 5-hour battery pack.
* Decent 3D performance – a decent Intel card would be preferred so I can run the free drivers, otherwise no preference.
* Large hard drive – at least 100GB.
* Two USB ports, Firewire, external VGA that works with a projector. 🙂
And a few nice things, not essential, but nice:
* Hardware buttons for volume up/down.
* Built-in webcam.
* Built-in mic.
* Built-in keyboard light.
* Built-in SD card slot.
Naturally I would want all of the hardware to be supported in Linux, specifically Ubuntu – and this includes things like the Firewire port. 🙂
I would like to get this for no more than £800 if possible.
Some of you may suggest the EEEPC, but having used it, it is not quite as powerful as I want, and the projector support will be a problem due to its strange resolution. If I could get a more powerful EEPC with a normal screen resolution, and a little bit bigger, that would be perfect. Then again, that would be my current Vaio. 🙂
Of course, if someone from a laptop vendor wants to donate me a laptop, I am not going to hold you back. 🙂
No Email. Annoyed.
Quick note – email to jonobacon.com is not working. I am annoyed, very annoyed and just screamed in annoyance and had the neighbours knock on my door to ask if everything was alright.
Now, thats annoyed for you.
ZoneEdit, you suck.
Send mail to jono AT ubuntu DOT com instead.